Barry Morphew, man accused of killing his wife near Salida, enters not guilty plea
CHAFFEE, Colo. (KRDO) -- Barry Morphew, the man accused of killing his wife in a case that captured national attention, entered a not guilty plea in court Monday. The case now heads to trial.
Morphew's wife, Suzanne, disappeared in Salida back on Mother's Day in 2020. She was reported to have gone on a bike ride in Chaffee County and never returned.
A year after her disappearance, her husband, Barry, was arrested and charged with murder-- but the case was dismissed in 2022.
Her body was later found in 2023, and her death was ruled a homicide. Her body being found meant the case had new evidence, and Morphew was charged with murder once again.
READ MORE: New evidence leads to Barry Morphew’s arrest in the alleged murder of his wife
Suzanne's death was rulled a “homicide by unspecified means in the setting of butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine (BAM) intoxication,"-- three drugs commonly used as animal sedatives. According to his indictment, law enforcement located a locked gun safe in the Morphew residence, which held a tranquilizer rifle. Investigators also discovered packages of darts in the safe and found a needle cap for one of those darts in the Morphews' dryer.
Morphew has maintained his innocence in his wife's death since she disappeared.
In a KRDO13 exclusive, Morphew's defense attorney explained the challenges of taking on such a high-profile case.
"Nobody ever did a real investigation in this case. They decided the moment that this happened, that it was very, and they have done everything they can to make it look like that," says Attorney Jane Fisher-Byrialsen.
David Bellar, another member of Morphew's legal defense, says he believes that when Morphew's case was dismissed in 2021 due to the mishandling of evidence by the prosecution, it impacted the public's perception.
"I think a lot of Coloradoans have very strong opinions about this case and about Mr. Morphew's guilt based on the conduct of former prosecutors, as opposed to the evidence that they've actually heard."
When the charges were refilled after Suzanne's body was found, an autopsy showed the death was caused by animal tranquilizers.
The defense says this raises two big problems for the case.
"Mrs. Morphew's remains were located about an hour south of where the government initially thought that she would be." The defense says this throws off the prosecution's timeline for Morphew.
"There's absolutely no way that Barry could have disposed of the body," Bellar said outside the courthouse, calling into question the scientific methods used to ID the tranquilizers found in Suzanne's body.
"We also have prisons and jails that are full because of faulty science that has happened for too long, unquestioned, out of the Colorado laboratories. Mr. Morphew's case is yet one more example."
Morphew's trial is set to begin in October, and during that time, he will remain out on bond.
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